Canyon Joe Chords
by Joe Purdy
Canyon Joe by Joe Purdy is a moderately challenging guitar song played in the key of C with a capo on the 3st fret. It uses the chords C, Em, F, G and Am. Use the transpose and diagram tools on this page to change the key, see each shape, or simplify the chords.
From the album of the same name.
Chords used:
C: X32010
Em: 022000
F: 133210
G: 320010
Am: X02210
The picking pattern is relatively simple for the most part. There are a couple of minor variations
on the chords used. For example sometimes the intro and going into the verse uses a variation
on the G:
e|----------------------------3---|
B|-------1----------1-------------|
G|-----0----0-------0---0---0-----|
D|---2--------0p2---0-----0-------|
A|--------------------------------|
G|-3--------------3---------------|
Sometimes notes are added or taken out, but if you stick to the chord shapes you can't really go wrong. For the verse in general:
C Em F G
e|---------------------------------------------------------------|
B|-------1-------------0--------------1----------------1---------|
G|-----0--0--0------0----0--0------2----2---2------0-----0---0---|
D|----2-2---2-----2--2-----2-----3---3----3------0---0-----0-----|
A|--3------------------------------------------------------------|
E|--------------0--------------1---------------3-----------------|
Am F C Am G F
e|----------------------------------------------------------------3-|
B|-------1--------------1------------1--------1-------1-------2-----|
G|-----2---2--2------2----2---2--------0--------2-------0-------3---|
D|----2-2---2------3---3----3------2--------2-------0--------3------|
A|--0----------------------------3--------0-------------------------|
E|---------------1--------------------------------3--------1--------|
Intro: G
Verse:
C Em
Well I live in the canyon where the old coyotes howl
F G
They come down from the mountains and the dogs begin to growl
Am F
And they meet up in the darkness, and they fight until the death
C Am G F
When the morning sun is rising I will bury who is left
G Am F C
e|-----------------------------------|
B|-----1--------0h1------1-------1---|
G|-------0-----------------2-------0-|
D|---0--------2--------3-------2-----|
A|----------0----------------3-------|
G|-3-----------------1---------------|
G Am
Oh-------- Oh
F C G
They call me Canyon Joe
C
And I stay in the cabin
Em
Where I work my hands to bleed
F
Swing the hammer to the nail
G
And I swing the axe onto the tree
Am
And I once cleared these woods
F
-yeah there used to be a path
C Am G F
And now the trees have overgrown just to prove that nothing lasts
G Am
And Oh-------- Oh
F C G
They call me Canyon Joe
C
The old man went crazy
Em
He lives high up on the ridge
F G
He used to tell me all the stories of the church house and the bridge
Am
But the bridge, she washed away your sin
F
The church house- it got burned
C Am G F
'Cause this world has gone angry and some people never learn
G Am
And Oh-------- Oh
F C G
They call me Canyon Joe
C
And I once loved a woman
Em
Georgia was her name
F G
And we met out in the foothills of the Ozark Mountain Range
Am
And we saw the world together
F
And these sparks that we love most
C Am
She still comes to me in dreams
G F
I am still haunted with her ghost
G Am
And Oh-------- Oh
F C G (x3)
They call me Canyon Joe
C
And all my thoughts are heavy
Em
My beard, it has grown long
F G
And I search the face of six-strings for an old familiar song
Am F
But the chords, they all sound foreign like the places I have been
C Am
So I will close my eyes to sleep
G F
Tomorrow I will try again
G Am
And Oh-------- Oh
F C G
They call me Canyon Joe
G Am
Oh-------- Oh
F C G
They call me Canyon Joe
G Am
Singing (Oh-------- Oh)
F C G (x3)
They call me Canyon Joe